To Lose a Brother
by Lady Eivel
Summary: Edmund dies of a fever and his siblings are left to rule without him. But can they rule with broken hearts? No slash or incest. ON HAITUS


A/N I was bored. Edmund is my favourite character. I like to kill off, or hurt, my favourite characters. Don't ask me why, but I reckon you can probably tell where this is going. If you hate deathfics, don't read. No slash or incest, just sibling love and losta angst.

Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia. If I did, Ed would have gone there first and things would be way different.

The Loss of a Brother.

Peter dabbed his brother's forehead with the damp cloth in his hands. He wished Susan and Lucy were here, but they were in Archenland and they weren't due home until tomorrow. Until then, he had no-one to help him. There were the healers, of course, but what could they say? What did they know of the myriad of emotions passing through Peter's mind as he watched his baby brother suffer like this- watched the fever take its agonising hold on the small boy lying so helpless on the bed?

A soft moan penetrated his thoughts, bringing him back down to earth from his storm cloud of emotions. "Ssh Ed, ssh. You're going to be fine. Ssh." Peter soothed. Edmund did not seem to hear, continuing to toss and turn. He was struggling for air, Peter could see that easily. His face was red, tinged purple in places. Peter's heart wrenched at the sight. He continued to wipe the boy's face with the cloth, continued to whisper encouragement until tiredness claimed him.

When he woke, he cursed himself for falling asleep. He looked over at Edmund. The boy's face was peaceful, and at first Peter thought the fever had broken. He reached out a hand to touch his brother's face. It was cold. So cold…

No. No- it couldn't be… He couldn't be dead! Frantically, Peter checked for breathing, heartbeat, anything to show him there was hope. Nothing. Not even the smallest twitch came from anywhere on the body.

"Ed…" he gasped, before breaking down in tears.

0-0-0

Susan and Lucy rode at their ease. Lucy finished yet another joke and Susan laughed out loud.

"I declare Lu, you are like a joke book!" she said when she had stopped laughing.

"Reckon Peter and Ed'll like it then?"

"Oh yes. Speaking of which… look! It's Cair!" exclaimed Susan.

"Home!" continued Lucy. Then she grinned. "I hope Peter and Ed have behaved themselves while we've been gone."

"Yes, I dread to think what might happen if they pull another of their pranks."

"Remember last year when Edmund swapped your bed for an empty frame while we were away? And how you went to sit down, and fell straight through?" Lucy giggled "That was funny!"

"Well it might have been for you, but you weren't the one with the sore behind at the end of it!" Lucy grinned.

"Race you to the castle!" she called, galloping ahead.

"That's cheating!" Susan protested, before spurring her horse onwards after her sister. Eventually, she pulled to a halt in the courtyard. Lucy had already dismounted, and was looking at Susan with a huge smile on her face.

"I declare- you're getting slower every year!" Susan scowled good-naturedly down at her sister before smoothly dismounting.

"That's odd- the boys haven't come out to greet us. They always did before." Susan was starting to get the tiniest feeling of worry at the back of her mind.

"Let's go and find them then." Lucy replied, seemingly ignorant of how their brother's absence was making Susan feel.

0-0-0

"Ed? Peter? We're back!" Peter heard his sisters calling. He tried to get up and go to them, but his limbs felt like lead and wouldn't move and he found himself in the same position he had been in for the last few hours- sitting, looking at the still body on the bed.

"Ed?" Lucy called. He heard the door swing open behind him. "Peter!" before he knew it, Lucy had come over and enveloped him in a hug. "We missed you so much! It's wonderful in Archenland right now, and King Lune was so nice and… Peter? What's the matter?"

"Peter?" This time it was Susan. "What's wrong with Ed?" she, unlike the youngest of the family, had noticed the small form lying on the bed.

"He's gone." Peter managed to choke out.

"What do you mean?" Susan crossed the room quickly.

"He had a fever. I went to sleep and when I woke up, he was like this. Su, he's gone." Susan seemed to realise what he meant. Lucy, on the other hand, did not.

"Is he ill? I can use my cordial…" her hands went to the little pouch at her waist, but Susan stopped her.

"No Lucy." Her voice started to break "It's too late for that," a small sob punctuated the end of her sentence.

"But it can't be! Su, he can't be dead! He…"

"Lucy." Peter broke in gently. "There's nothing you can do. There's nothing anyone can do any more." Then Lucy understood. With a wail, she ran from the room. Susan sat on the edge of the bed next to Peter, who put his arms round her and they cried together.

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Ooh, I killed Ed! Not for the first time though, but the last time was in battle. Poor Peter too. Imagine waking up and finding out your sibling was dead. Please review- flames will have water thrown on them as it's too hot right now to do anything else.

AmyAmidala


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